St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-01-15

'nSt nc WAS paying lDt
losses. every act Of depreciation tha,
was committed was charged to his men,
In TINS way the regiment soon gained 8
bad reputation. and it was openly ad
vocated that the command should be
mustered out Of service. as it wa
claimed thst they were disgrace IA
the army. The young commander felt
these aspcrsions keenly.
''On the 23d of May. when all the
other regiments around Washington
were ordered to leave at midnight for
Alexandria, Colonel Ellswortl's com.
mand was not noticed. He went in
person to the President and begged
that his men be allowed to lead the ex-
peditiOn. He explained that the only
safety for his men lay in his ability to
service. So anxious was he to have his
command start that he said to the Pres
ident that if, while on the trip. his men
were guilty of any act that would re-
tlcct discredit on them or disgrace to
himself he would be willing that they
| shCa.d be mustered out of service and
merged into other commands. He
came back to the regiment at ten
o'clock at night with his request
granted. The command was called
under arms and formed in column of
division closed en- masse. Colonel
Ellsworth then spoke to the men and
said:
"'Boys. to-day I unders TODD that a
movement was to be made into Vir-
ginia. Invent to General Mansfield and
told him that l demanded the right
of line As it was our right. Eng the first
regiment of volunteers mustered into
service. All | can say is to prepare
yourselves for nice little sail. and at
the end OF it perhaps nice little
skirmish. When we reach the place
OF destination act rs men and do moth
ing to shame the regiment Show the
enemy you are men rs we'll As soldiers.
and that you will treat them with
kindness until they force you to
violence. 1want you to kill them with
kindness. And no matter what may
happen. not a shot must be fired with
out orders. Go to your tents. lie down
and take your rest until two O'Clock.
when our boat will arrive and we will
60 forward to victory or to death.
1.-The trip across the river was made
that night. as is well-known matter
of history. but instead Of capturing the
town and the railway supplies as had
been intended, only the town was
taken and that without resistance.
There has been an attempt to blame
Colonel Ellsworth for the failure of the
scheme. but the reports of the war.
now being officially published. put the
blame where it belongs. We landed at
Alexandria before daylight. About
daybrcak Colonel Ellsworth started to
leave his regiment. accompanied only
by the chaplain and the correspondents
of the New York Times and Tribune.
As he was about to leave some one
suggested the propriety of taking a
guard with him. He then called for
the first squat on the right of the first
company. This included a sergeant,
two corporals and two privates. Twas
one of the corporals. We had gone
three squares and turned south and
walked two squares when We came in
sight of the Marshall house. II was
brick structure with an
attic and two wings. From the scuttlc
on the roof fluttered rebel flag. The
rest of us saw it rs soon as we turned
the corner. but | do not think the
Colonel did. As we reached the corner
he turned 10 the sergeant and told him
to go back to the regiment and tell
Captain Coyle to hurry up here with
his company. do not know whether
he had seen the flag or not, but | have
never believed that he did. Some say
that he knew it was there and left the
company with the purpose of taking it
down. To me this does not appear
consistent with his actions. for if he
had known that the flag was exposed
and had intended taking it down by
force he would have taken the company
with him when he left the regiment
and not waited until he reached the |
place and then sent back for them.
AFTER the sergeant left us Colonel
Ellsworth walked half the length Of the |
block at the side of the Marshall house |
and had just stepped across tine alley |
when he stopped quickly. looked across
the street. and l believe then saw the |
fag for the first time. have always |
thought that when he saw the flag he
concluded it was not safe to leave it |
until his men came up. He
the promise he had given
the President about the mems conduct
md he was afraid that il the flag was
allowed to hang and the members Of
MS regiment saw it they would be SO
aroused that trouble would result.
,hink he believed the best plan was to
get the flag out of sight as quickly as
possible.
"He stepped to the front of the hotel.
n the Office behind tho counter sat
! man who. when asked by Colonel
Ellsworth If he was the proprietor. said
le was not. He also denied putting
lp the flag. We all passed up the
tairs into the attic and Colonel Ellis
worth cut the rope and we started
rack. the Colonel having the flag in
lis arms. The stairway was . narrow.
winding affair. and between the balus-
ers and the partition of the rooms on
he opposite side there was scarcely q
width of four feet for walking room.
IN our way down took the lead. As
turned the corner of the stairs that
would have landed us on the third
loor I saw man step ont of a room
With a double barrclcd shotgun in his
land. As he saw me he Pa sed i; to
lis shoulder. but I gave spring and
anded on the floor beside him with one
'ounG. had my musket in my hands
md I threw il across the barrel of his
,un before he could fire and forced the
nuzzle of his weapon toward the floor.
The barrel of my gun was longer than
lis, and when the weapons reached .
harp angle my musket slipped of.